Access and allocation in global biodiversity governance: a review

Access and allocation is one of the five analytical themes of the science plan of the Earth System Governance (ESG) project. Concerns over access and allocation are at the core of struggles and conflicts brought about by the often ineluctable trade-offs related to biodiversity conservation and the global, national and local governance systems that aim to contribute to global biodiversity conservation. Access and benefit-sharing mechanisms, integrated conservation and development projects, payments for ecosystem services or community conservation programmes have all tried balancing environmental objectives with concerns for the allocation of natural resources and associated rights within society, and for access to basic human needs. As a contribution to this special issue on access and allocation, this paper aims to contribute to the analysis of the relevance of questions of access and allocation to ESG by providing an in-depth review of the literature on access and allocation in biodiversity conservation at different scales. We describe how the concepts of access and allocation have been used and conceptualized in the literature produced between 2008 and 2018, and we discuss the two key issues which dominate the literature (1) benefit-sharing; and (2) the role of local institutions. By drawing on the trends and evidence from the literature, we consider the lessons for the next generation of ESG scholars and draw out some key policy implications to be included in the debates on the post-2020 strategic plan for biodiversity

Alterations in functional brain network structure induced by subchronic phencyclidine (PCP) treatment parallel those seen in schizophrenia

Abstract of poster presentation shown at the 2nd Biennial Schizophrenia International Research Conference on Alterations in functional brain network structure induced by subchronic phencyclidine (PCP) treatment parallel those seen in schizophrenia

Can agricultural intensification help attain Sustainable Development Goals? Evidence from Africa and Asia

Market-oriented agricultural intensification is a major development strategy, yet its alignment with sustainable development goals (SDGs) is unclear. We apply indicators for SDG 2 (eradicate hunger) regarding income, food production, food security and land tenure to recent intensifications in Rwanda and Laos to reveal their disaggregated impacts. We find while market-oriented intensification may generate poverty reduction, it also exacerbated marginalisation and poverty through various forms of land tenure insecurity. Ethnicity and gender were influential factors in Rwanda, and post-conflict resettlement policies in Laos. We discuss implications for development practice and selection of suitable indicators to reflect the ambition of the SDGs

Justice and equity:Emerging research and policy approaches to address ecosystem service trade-offs

An environmental justice framework is a broad approach to understand diverse perspectives on environmental management and change, in terms of distributional impacts, decision-making procedures and recognition of various values and identities. The approach is well suited to elicit the nature and extent of ecosystem service trade-offs, and to bring forward the views of poor and marginalised stakeholders, often underrepresented through standard ecosystem service frameworks. Equity has emerged as an important objective for environmental policy, partly due to the moral imperative to support human rights and partly due to increasing appreciation that improvements to equity can help to secure other objectives, notably poverty alleviation and conservation. Despite greater policy reference, equity has been repeatedly evidenced across numerous sectors as failing, in practice, to deliver just processes and outcomes for local communities, particularly for the poor and cultural minorities. There is a policy need for scientific evidence to elaborate definitions, principles, guidelines and tools for assessment of and strategies to advance towards more equitable governance of terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Recent academic progress has been made in developing principles and describing characteristics of equitable governance which may uncover innovative solutions to trade-offs

Justice-related impacts and social differentiation dynamics in Nepal’s REDD+ projects

Policies and projects aimed at Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation, and the sustainable management of forests and the enhancement of forest carbon stocks (REDD+), have been regarded as an opportunity to improve forest governance while supporting rural livelihoods. However, now that REDD+ policies are being increasingly implemented, a number of justice-related challenges have emerged, including how social heterogeneity should be approached to avoid deepening the unequal access to land, resources and livelihood opportunities or even violating human rights in rural contexts. Applying an environmental justice lens, this article analyses the experience of three local communities in Nepal participating in REDD+ pilot projects, focusing on how indigenous peoples, women and Dalits have participated in and been affected by such initiatives. Our research shows that the studied REDD+ pilot activities in Nepal have been, to some extent, able to recognise, empower and benefit certain social groups, indigenous women in particular, whilst Dalits (particularly Dalit women) had a different experience. REDD+ projects have had limited impact in addressing more entrenched processes of political discrimination, male dominance in decision-making, and uneven participation driven by spatial considerations or specific social targeting approaches. While the projects examined here have been partially just, and rather sensitive to existing patterns of social differentiation, the complexity of social differentiation still makes it difficult to operationalise environmental justice in REDD+ implementation. Hence, we conclude that deficits in distributive, recognition and procedural justice cannot be resolved without first addressing wider issues of social injustices throughout Nepal, historically inherited along the dimensions of class, caste, ethnicity, gender, and spatiality

The park is ruining our livelihoods. We support the park! Unravelling the paradox of attitudes to protected areas

Despite considerable field-based innovation and academic scrutiny, the nexus between conservation approaches, local support for parks and park effectiveness remains quite puzzling. Common approaches to understanding notions of environmental justice are to understand distributional and procedural issues, representation in decision making, and recognition of authorities and claims. We took a different approach and analysed environmental justice claims through institutional, ideational and psychological lenses. We sought to understand how the national park could have such broad support from local communities despite their acknowledgement that it severely curtailed their livelihoods. We conducted 100 household interviews in three villages that border Nam Et-Phou Louey National Protected Area. Our study found that villagers 1) hold on to broken promises by the State for agricultural activities and alternative revenues without fully changing forest use behaviours; 2) were influenced heavily by the ‘educational’ programmes by the State; 3) accepted the authority of the State and lack of participation in decision-making based on historical experiences and values; 4) justified their burdens by over-emphasising the positive aspects of the park. Our findings present a complementary framework to explain environmental justice claims, allowing for a nuanced analysis of how people respond to justices and injustices, and specifically how injustices can be identified through proven social science concepts

Representation and participation in formulating Nepal’s REDD+ approach

REDD+ is an international policy aimed at incentivizing forest conservation and management and improving forest governance. In this article, we interrogate how newly articulated REDD+ governance processes established to guide the formulation of Nepal’s REDD+ approach address issues of participation for different social groups. Specifically, we analyse available forums of participation for different social groups, as well as the nature of their representation and degree of participation during the country’s REDD+ preparedness phase. We find that spaces for participation and decision-making in REDD+ have been to date defined and dominated by government actors and influential civil society groups, whereas the influence of other actors, particularly marginalized groups such as Dalits and women’s organizations, have remained limited. REDD+ has also resulted in a reduction of influence for some hitherto powerful actors (e.g. community forestry activists) and constrained their critical voice. These governance weaknesses related to misrepresentation and uneven power relations in Nepal cast doubt on the extent to which procedural justice has been promoted through REDD+ and imply that implementation may, as a consequence, lack the required social legitimacy and support. We discuss possible ways to address these shortcomings, such as granting greater prominence to neglected civil society forums within the REDD+ process, allowing for an increase in their influence on policy design, enhancing capacity and leadership of marginalized groups and institutionalizing participation through continued forest governance reform. Key policy insights: -Participation is a critical asset in public policy design. -Ensuring wide and meaningful participation can enhance policy legitimacy and thus its endorsement and potential effective implementation. - Fostering inclusive processes through dedicated forums such as multi-stakeholder groups can help overcome power dynamics. -While REDD+ is open to participation by different actors through a variety of formal means, many countries lack a clear framework for participation in national policy processes. -Nepal’s experience with representation and participation of non-state actors in its REDD+ preparedness programme provides useful insights for similar social and policy contexts

Structured illumination microscopy using micro-pixellated light-emitting diodes

Structured illumination is a flexible and economical method of obtaining optical sectioning in wide-field microscopy [1]. In this technique the illumination system is modified to project a single-spatial frequency grid pattern onto the sample [2, 3]. The pattern can only be resolved in the focal plane and by recording images for different transverse grid positions (or phases) an image of the in-focus parts of the object can be calculated. Light emitting diodes (LEDs) are becoming increasingly popular for lighting and illumination systems due to their low cost, small dimensions, low coherence, uniform illumination, high efficiency and long lifetime. These properties, together with recent developments in high brightness, ultraviolet operation and microstructured emitter design offer great potential for LEDs as light sources for microscopy. In this paper we demonstrate a novel structured illumination microscope using a blue micro-structured light emitting diode as the illumination source. The system is potentially very compact and has no-moving-parts

A novel therapeutic strategy for pancreatic neoplasia using a novel RNAi platform targeting PDX-1

Bi-functional shRNA (bi-shRNA), a novel RNA interference (RNAi) effector platform targeting PDX-1 utilizing a systemic DOTAP-Cholesterol delivery vehicle, was studied in three mouse models of progressive pancreatic neoplasia. Species-specific bi-functional PDX-1 shRNA (bi-shRNAPDX-1) lipoplexes inhibited insulin expression and secretion while also substantially inhibiting proliferation of mouse and human cell lines via disruption of cell cycle proteins in vitro. Three cycles of either bi-shRNA<sup>mousePDX-1</sup> or shRNA<sup>mousePDX-1</sup> lipoplexes administered intravenously prevented death from hyperinsulinemia and hypoglycemia in a lethal insulinoma mouse model. Three cycles of shRNA<sup>mousePDX-1</sup> lipoplexes reversed hyperinsulinemia and hypoglycemia in an immune-competent mouse model of pancreatic neoplasia. Moreover, three cycles of the bi-shRNA<sup>humanPDX-1</sup> lipoplexes resulted in near complete ablation of tumor volume and considerably improved survival in a human PANC-1 implanted SCID-mouse model. Human pancreatic neoplasia specimens also stained strongly for PDX-1 expression. Together, these data support the clinical development of a novel therapeutic strategy using systemic bi-shRNA<sup>PDX-1</sup> lipoplexes against pancreatic neoplasia